Katrin Heichel – NOCTURAMA

NOCTURAMA is the first institutional solo show of Leipzig based artist Katrin Heichel (born Leipzig 1972). The G2 presents a new series of paintings contextualizing her prolific production with works from the last decade of her artistic oeuvre with a focus on specific subjects and

Press Release

The exhibition title N O C T U R A M A refers to the presentation of darkness as a basis for light and color. Especially in the artist’s recent works, there is a strong presence of night motifs and dark colors in a wide range of different shades.

N O C T U R A M A recalls the eponymous album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, released in 2003, whose hypnotic and melancholic power as well as its well balanced intonation of loud and soft sounds – or dark and bright colors – create a link to Heichel’s pictorial world. The song “There is a town” evokes the association to the “dark sky” of the so-called “Kerzer Nocturama”, an innovative zoo project in Switzerland: By filtering the sunlight, the visitor is enabled to explore a night world with its special flora and fauna. The fascination for the visitor consists of making surprising discoveries by walking through an artificial moonlight scene in a protected night setting during the day. Night and day are interchanged and Katrin Heichel’s works may have a similar impact on the viewer – the darkness bears secrets and increases our imagery phantasy.

Heichel’s paintings reclaim their actuality by frequently questioning pictorial traditions. The artist re-elaborates apparently “baroque” subjects and vanitas-motives in her art focusing on a reinterpretation of mainly still life and interior painting.

Admission fee: 5/3 Euros, students under 27 are eligible for reduced admission (valid ID/Documents required). Students of Fine Arts and Art History, as well as children under the age of 12, enter free of charge. Children must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult.